Troubled Florida thrift BankUnited was on Thursday seized by federal regulators handing control over to a private equity group led by John Kanas and WL Ross & Co.

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. this failure will cost its insurance fund $4.9 billion.

BankUnited is the second costliest bank failure of the recent banking crisis, and the 34th bank to fail this year.

BankUnited had $12.8 billion in assets, $8.6 billion in deposits and 85 branches.

The bank was critically under capitalized crumbling under the weight of its mortgage portfolio, which had been built over the years through its risky lending practices, amid the housing downturn.

Florida